FREDONIA, Ariz. — North Zone fire managers plan to continue pile burning activity in the vicinity of the North Rim Developed Area, which consists of two 16-acre units of hand piles. Pending favorable weather conditions, ignitions could begin as early as next week. The North Rim and Arizona state Route 67 are closed for the season and will reopen this spring.

Within the last three weeks, crews have accomplished an estimated 1,000 acres of mixed mechanical and hand pile prescribed burning in the vicinity of Jacob Lake and DeMotte campground. All three locations will remain a priority as conditions allow.

Smoke is expected to continue dispersing away from sensitive areas. However, fire officials remind motorists to always use caution when driving on roadways where visibility could change and potentially impact travel on the highway.

Additional fire information for the Kaibab National Forest can be obtained through the following sources:

1 Comment

In a way, I’m disappointed to see them torching the hand piles. They sure make habitat for small animals, rodents, snakes, etc., which all can be part of the food chain. Personally, I don’t think those small hand piles contribute considerably to the fire hazard. I sure hope they’re not torching them for aesthetic reasons. Aesthetics is just to subjective. The big mechanically piled brush piles, yes, perhaps they should be burned. I prefer to see controlled broadcast burns to eliminate the fuel ladders and excess fuel on the floor and intermediate thinning during the rotation.